Oh dude I forgot you weren't on the mailing list. Wednesday's practice was cancelled due to the weather, none of the coaches could make it. We have practice tonight (attendance might be light though) and the next one is Monday.

Hey man, my gi just came in. I think the top might be a little too long and the pants are meant for 5'10 but I hiked them up and they're fine. Do they both shrink in the wash? I'm a little scared to do this controlled shrinking lol. I'm not even sure if it's too big or it's just too starchy and stiff up top right now because it's still folded.

Damn. I'm not trying to die lol. That sounds pretty rough. You were talking about your knees when we met up, was that something that bothered you before Judo or during Judo? I have a bad knee myself and I was just wondering if Judo is going to exacerbate it.

At any rate, I just sent in an order for a size 4.5 so hopefully I should be coming within the next two weeks. I'll let you know for sure.

The Judo club usually does 40-60 minutes of groundfighting - probably 4/5 times or more. Often it is all groundfighting.

We have 3 different coaches and approaches to warmup. The head coach favors using a brief jog then newaza to warmup. The technical coach uses "Judo" warmups like mat pulls, breakfalls, shrimping, etc. The competition coach will sometimes put us through the wringer with all kinds of exercises. Thankfully it usually is fairly short compared to most other clubs I've seen.

I think shrinking down a size 5 would work pretty well. Put it in the dryer on high heat the first time you wash it (this is the only time you should do this). After 15 min, take it out every few minutes and try it on. When it's a little too big, stop drying it and hang dry. It'll shrink a little more over time. Or, get a size 4 and never machine dry it or wash on high heat.

As for a belt, the head coach has a bunch - usually members give their old belt to the club when promoted.